Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng spoke Thursday about his struggle to recover from the side effects of a spinal tap, first saying "I'll be OK" but expressing doubt about if or when he can return to action.

Asked after the Bulls' practice when he might be able to play again, Deng first coughed and then said, "I don’t know. I tried to shoot a little bit and I struggled. I couldn’t do it. We’ll see."Deng said he felt "very"weak on what he said was his first day out of the house and out of the hospital.

"I haven’t really left my bed much or done much," he said.

As for what caused his medical complications, Deng said, "I think that’s another story. Just I guess side effect from the spinal tap. It all started with I wasn’t feeling well. I guess I had the flu. But my symptoms were really bad when I went to the hospital. They wanted to make sure I didn’t have meningitis, which I’m thankful for they wanted to make sure."I did the spinal tap and after that, I just didn’t respond well. I started having severe headaches, was struggling to walk. I started feeling really weak. I started throwing up, constant diarrhea. I couldn’t control my body really. Because of that, I lost a lot of weight. And still just trying to get back, just trying to get right. I still don’t feel right.

Deng said he lost 15 pounds during the ordeal.

"It was scary," Deng said. "I never been through anything like that my whole life. It was scary for me, scary for everyone that was around me. I never seen anything like that. I never knew of a spinal tap before that. I didn’t know the reaction or the side effects of it. So I was really scared."

Deng was adamant that he will play in the series against the Heat if possible, but he also could be done for the postseason. The Bulls were blown out 115-78 in Game 2 after springing a Game 1 upset. Game 3 is Friday at the United Center.